Boston United are 'ready to go' ahead of National League opener against Rochdale

The Pilgrims make their highly-anticipated National League return when they host Rochdale at the weekend.

“We feel we are in a really good pace,” he told BBC Radio Lincs. “Different players have really progressed well during pre-season and are showing a good understanding of what we want.

“It's now about fine-tuning things and more focus on one opposition rather than a collective. We are really excited to get going.”

United warmed up the task ahead with a 1-0 win at neighbours Gainsborough Trinity at the weekend with Dan Mooney hitting an 11th minute winner.

“Once you get to the last game it’s just about topping up the minutes and getting through it without injuries and, touch wood, we have done that,” added Simpson.

“Now it's just ready for the big stuff. You do 4-5 weeks of work and the last thing you want is to get someone open to not being fit because of a late tackle or overstretching.”

Simpson is also confident the Pilgrims have the depth and versatility needed to rise to the challenge ahead.

“We need a good squad this season with some depth,” he said. “If you look at the second half of last season, the lads who came in complemented what we already had and that was probably the difference.

“The National League is relentless in terms of quality, travelling and schedule, you need a squad that is capable of standing up to that and I think we have.

“We have a lot of good players in different areas with different qualities and we can't wait. It's important to have as many cards to play as you can.

“We’ve got centre-halves who can play at full back, defenders that can play in midfield and wingers who can play number 10, it’s a good problem to have.

“When you have a squad that can fill in different holes as comfortable as their favourite position it gives us different variations and keeps people guessing.”

Boston face a massive task ahead in their battle for consolidation, having one of the smallest budgets a National League full of big-hitting former EFL sides.